Open a record store in the middle of a pandemic? At Wanna Hear It in Watertown, actually that sounds like a great idea!
Joey Cahill, owner of Wanna Hear It Records, sits at the counter of his Watertown Square store.
June 13, 2022
Though 2020 was seen as the height of COVID, where small businesses perished and nobody dared step outside, there were some places where people managed to make their dreams come true.
Wanna Hear It Records in Watertown, Mass., was one such place.
Joey Cahill, the owner of the store, not only opened it during the pandemic, but made most renovations to the store on his own.
“Had there never been COVID, the record store might not have happened,” Joey said in an interview with the Raider Times. “[I said to my wife before COVID], ‘I want to open a record store,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s cute,’ and she never took it seriously. Then with the pandemic, we were talking about it one day, and she realized I put a lot of thought into it.”
The pandemic gave Joey the chance to realize his 20-year-long dream. The store opened Dec. 12, 2020.
“It all happened very, very quickly,” Joey added. “It was easier than you would think. The hardest part, but also one of the best things we did, is that we just did it all ourselves. Any construction we did we just did ourselves.”
He knew the area because he and his wife lived on Church Street for two years before moving to Brookline. The store is located at 7 Main St. in Watertown Square, and it’s easy to see how this man, his wife, and a few others were able to renovate a space all by themselves. According to Joey, the store is “tiny,” a 300-square-foot space. When compared with the average size of the classroom, Joey said, it only takes up a small portion.
“I’d give anything for [the rest of] that space,” he said.
He loves the town. He feels Watertown is on the rise.
“With the new Arsenal Mall, I think it will be a big attraction,” he said.
He said the Watertown people have been very kind and welcoming to him, on the business and customer side. When asked about if he would ever want to move locations he said, ¨I would not move out of Watertown, but if I had an option for a larger space I would take it.¨
This was quite the passion project for Joey.
He grew up in Long Beach, Calif., which he described as similar to Watertown as it is very close to the big city. When he moved to Watertown, he instantly loved the location as it reminded him of where he grew up.
He’s owned a record label (6131 Records) for 16 years. Vinyl records have always been important to him, as he’s been collecting since the age of 14.
“It’s a huge part of my life,” he said.
When asked about why he likes records, he said that he enjoys the physical aspect of it, and the overall quality is better. For his favorite record, Jimmy Eat World’s “Clarity” is his best go-to.
Even the name of his store, “Wanna Hear It,” came from song lyrics. He credits his wife, Nicole, with the idea, taking the song title from the band Minor Threat’s “Don’t Wanna Hear It.”
A catchy name is important for business, especially when a lot of your business happens online as Joey’s does. This ability to order records through Wanna Hear It’s online store lets him make additional money during a time when there might not have been quite as many physical purchases as before COVID.
Other than records, the store has a few T-shirts, tapes, and products from local businesses, like jewelry, chocolates, candles, pins, and other trinkets.
With plenty of people stopping by to browse records, the store has been doing well for itself. When asked, Joey said his business is going “fantastic.”
He primarily sells indie rock, emo, punk, and only a few pop records. His average record costs about $20-$25 since they are difficult to make. The store’s best seller is Phoebe Bridgers’s “Punisher,” while their least seller is metal.
“It’s been interesting because as vinyl becomes more popular, it brings in a whole younger audience,” he said. “I knew that the market for vinyl is there. I didn’t know it would be at this level. I think COVID helped grow vinyl in a way. People were sitting at home looking for other hobbies like puzzles and breadmaking, and other stuff, but a lot of people got into vinyl.”
“The whole experience of [vinyl] is just different,” Joey said. “I personally think it sounds better. There’s something so simple about this outdated technology that no one thought would still be around, 50, 60, 70 years later. Yet here we are, and vinyl’s bigger than it’s maybe ever been.”
– June 13, 2022–
